Compared to the value of Platinum card perks in the past, these new benefits are weak tea. I’ve written before about the limited value of credit cards with high annual fees, but in many ways the Platinum is the granddaddy of this type of card. So you’d think when it comes to new benefits they’d be leading the pack, or setting the bar, or climbing the mountain… to the top… so they’d be at the top… okay, I’m out of clichés.

But I honestly don’t think there’s any question about it — the Amex Platinum is absolutely no longer worth its ginormous annual fee.

It’s all about the lounges.

Amex is compensating for something with all these new benefits, and we all know what that something is without even having to look at the size of their feet (and by the way, science says that’s all a myth anyway so stop pointing at my small feet with that knowing look, will you?)

But for $450? That’s not enough, American Express. The pancake machine is not enough.

What about the airline fee credit?

“Yes, yes,” titter the Conventional Wisdomers, “but you can offset most of that $450 in the first year with the $200 airline fee credit.”

True, you can. But you can offset even more of the huge annual fee with the Citi Prestige card, which is now offering a $250 annual airline fee credit. Oh, and by the way, unlike the Amex Platinum, the Prestige includes airfare as an eligible expense. No worrying for days on end about whether those gift card charges will improperly trigger the credit — if you charge $250 in annual airfare expenses, they’ll be covered.

Wait, aren’t Membership Rewards points more valuable than Citi ThankYou points? Maybe, but when I can get 3x ThankYou points for travel, 2x for dining and entertainment, 9 transfer partners including Singapore Airlines, and a guaranteed 1.6 cents per point valuation on any American or US Airways airfare, I’d say it pretty much evens out. In fact, if Citibank ever gets around to adding American Airlines as a ThankYou transfer partner, I’d say American Express is going to get stomped like a corporate attorney at Jurassic Park.

This is Citibank coming to get you, American Express.

But what about lounge access on the Prestige? No problem. With the Prestige you actually get a better Priority Pass than the Platinum card plus Admirals Club access anytime you’re traveling on American. You can also bring others into the Admirals Club with you — either up to two traveling guests or your immediate family. (By the way, I like that Citibank has gone out of their way in their Terms and Conditions to make this an either/or clause. It shows I’m not the only one trying to sneak their family through security to the Admirals Club whenever I’m flying alone. “Come on, kids! Let’s go to the airport and get free snack mix and Coors Light!” “Yaaaaaay!”)

The Devil’s Advocate says skip the Amex Platinum until it’s good again.

At times there are some impressive Membership Rewards signup bonus offers floating around, and there’s a valid argument to be made that 100,000 bonus points is worth $450. But I’ve only seen that offer on the Business Platinum cards recently; personal offers for 100,000 bonus points appear to be highly targeted. So when Amex is only offering 25,000 bonus points or the like for a card that costs $450 a year, you’re better off with a Prestige where you can bump the bonus to 60,000 points and get improved lounge benefits along with a superior airline fee credit.

I know American Express is reading this because they’re a huge company and I assume they have someone whose job is to do nothing but surf the internet and read stuff about their huge company. Even if that’s not someone’s “official” job at Amex, I’m certain there’s more than a few staffers doing exactly that in order to avoid doing their actual work. So Amex, the following personal letter is from me to you…

Devil’s Advocate is a weekly series that deliberately argues a contrarian view on travel and loyalty programs. Sometimes the Devil’s Advocate truly believes in the counterargument. Other times he takes the opposing position just to see if the original argument holds water. But his main objective is to engage in friendly debate with the miles and points community to determine if today’s conventional wisdom is valid. You can suggest future topics by sending an email to dvlsadvcate@gmail.com.

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About Devils Advocate

Julian plays the Devil’s Advocate with a unique perspective on travel loyalty programs and the points and miles community. He encourages a healthy (and respectful!) debate here or via Twitter at @dvlsadvcate.

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